Google

With the transition to Google's Shopping campaigns looming at the end of August, it's important for retailers to prepare now. To help, ChannelAdvisor created a Shape Up Your Shopping Campaigns infographic — an outline of steps needed to transition. Don't let Google force your Product Listing Ad campaigns into the new format without optimization or input from you!

Online merchants who advertise their products via Google must adjust their product feeds to comply with new requirements. There are several changes, but one that may break the bank for some sellers is Google's new "image quality recommendations." Google Shopping now states on its products feed specs page: "The main image should be taken on a solid white, gray or light-colored background. It should not include borders." Some online sellers object to such requirements — particularly for all-white products. Others object simply because it will be costly for them to take new photographs for all of their inventory.

The connected home space is getting crowded with Staples Connect, the newest platform looking to simplify peoples’ lives by putting them in constant contact with their home or business. Staples plans to roll out its Staples Connect home automation platform to 500 stores and will offer lower prices on the Connect Hub and feature new wearable products and support from some big technology names. Staples Connect was introduced in the fall of 2013 in select stores and online as a home and office automation platform, competing with Google's Nest, Lowe's Iris system and Home Depot's new Wink platform.

There's no question that marketing has become infinitely more complex for retailers over the past several years. The number of potential customer touchpoints has exploded, as consumers shift how they spend their time from nondigital (TV, print) to digital channels (web, mobile, social). The upside to this complexity is that retailers have a huge opportunity to engage with customers on a much richer and more personalized basis. The downside is that it's become even more complex for retailers to measure marketing effectiveness.

Amazon.com's new Fire phone might be less about the phone and more about what its computing power can do in a few years, when it's built into futuristic devices like internet-connected contact lenses, as I wrote today on the Upshot. But in the meantime, Amazon still needs to sell some phones. The challenge is that by now, many people have already chosen their smartphones, and have doubled down in Apple's or Google's world as a result. For many, the complication and cost of switching to an Amazon phone is too much, and the benefits too small. 

The field of players offering same-day delivery of orders placed online is getting increasingly crowded. But only a handful are likely to succeed in wringing a profit from this high-cost service. Many of the biggest names in e-commerce have already launched some form of same-day or expedited delivery, including Amazon Fresh, eBay Now, Uber Rush and Google Shopping Express. In addition, a number of smaller entities are trying to squeeze into service niches that will allow them to survive among the giants. 

There was an energy — not to mention growing audience — to the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE) last week that reflected the fast pace of change in the industry. The hot topics for catalogers included the following:

In a session last week at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, Diana Adair, director of communications at custom products retailer Zazzle, a company that's no stranger to crises, offered her top tips for surviving — and avoiding altogether — a social media crisis:

In a session at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago yesterday, Kevin Gardiner, Macy's director of retail services, discussed the company's ship-from-store program, including its challenges, how success is measured, why data is integral to the program as well as future innovation opportunities for the retailer. 

How has Joyus, the San Francisco-based video shopping platform startup that's raised more than $19 million in funding, been able to realize success from its use of online video? Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, chairman and founder of Joyus, explained how via three lessons during her keynote presentation at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago yesterday.